Two Sisters
by the-everest
Summary: A twist on the relationship of Lilly and Petunia/Rated M for the love triangles to come, etc.*** She hated all of her sister's "special" friends. "You know, you act like such a dog sometime," she scolded. Sirius just grinned- "And how!"
1. Trainstation

Obviously, I don't own the HP franchise- ergo, don't own characters in this story, and the like. either way, hope you enjoy it. more should be on the way soon.

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><p><strong>Chapter One: At the Trainstation, Once More<strong>

Little boys love the sound of trains grinding across tracks. Maybe it took a Y-chromosome to enjoy train whistles and train rides, but even if that had been the case, Petunia didn't think she could have loathed the train station any less.

"We should just leave her there," she pouted meanly as her father pulled into a parking spot.

"You don't mean that, honey."

"I do. Why do we have to put up with a freak! Our lives are so... normal when she isn't here..." She kept up her rant for a good bit, knowing each arguement would fall on deaf ears. And she followed her parents out of the car, filing behind them sullenly as they made their way to Plaform 9 3/4. All sorts of people began to stand out from the normal mass of passer-by's, acknowledging Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Congratulating them even. Petunia felt rather sick at all of the attention- "Lilly this" and "Lilly that." After all, her parents hardly knew what their little genius was being praised for.

And then, the students started to appear- kids her age, though mostly younger, slipping through a wall, appreaing out of nothing at all... the worst part is that she couldn't help but gape at the grand, and almost intolerable, illusion.

Passing through, Lilly Evans made her way with much of the same admiration for the procession as her sister. Except Lilly wasn't distraught at the audacity of this public display of, well, magic- what she found intolerable was having to return for an entire summer and to (legally) renounce magic until returning back to school.

"Lilly!" Her father boomed, startling her out of her reverie. Looking at the outstretched arms of her parents, Lilly knew that coming home from school obviously did have its perks. She ran to them, leaving her older sister to stand crossly on the platform, looking down her nose at the procession of students making their way to their own families.

"Oh, what happened? Aren't we driving your little 'bosom buddy' home too?" she sneered as she recognized a slimy, thin boy slinking past them. "Oh, Severus!"

"Hush," Lilly reached for her sister.

"No, darling, she's right," corrected their father. "The poor boy can't afford to be picked up here. We could give him a ride- now, where the devil did he go? Severus!" Mr. Evans shouted after him as the boy blended into the crowds.

Only Lilly saw Severus Snape nod quickly at her family as he went on, to get home by his own means, no doubt. Cringing at the coldness from her oldest friend, she looked back to Petunia accusingly.

"Why do you have to be so rude to my friends?"

"Now, now- it's perfectly alright for her to do something like that when the 'friend' in question is Slytherin," a haughty boy appeared at Lilly's shoulder, giving her arm a tight squeeze. "Have a good summer, will you, Evans?" The boy winked at her as Lilly moved away from his touch.

Petunia almost smiled, seeing her sister's green eyes burn daggers into the back of the boy's head as he walked off to join some more guys.

"Lilly, put that away," their mom hissed. Obediently, Lilly concealed the wand she had procured for what would have been a well-deserved hex toward the retreating James Potter.

And then, soon enough, they were back in the car, making the trip back home. Petunia and Lilly found themselves finally relaxed, though for entirely different reasons.

"So, honey. You've only got _one_ more year at this place, aren't you excited!" Mr. Evans tried to swivel his head toward the backseat- his fleshy face was pink from the heat and the excitement of the unusual family reunion.

"Enough with the 'Hogwash' already," Petunia droned on as her little sister shot her a hurt look.

"You know the name of the establishment by now."

"I wouldn't call it an 'establishment'" Petunia added snootily.

"Well then at least just call it 'Hogwarts.'"

"Honey, I'll call it 'Hogwarts,'" their mother interjected hoping to put an end to the sisterly squabble.

How pointless, Petunia thought. Of course people are bound to fight when they're so... different.

-a week of summer passed by-

"Could I come in, pet?"

"No. You. Cannot," groaned Petunia between brushstrokes. Of course, Lilly entered anyway- these days, it didn't even matter if Petunia used a lock. Lilly could get past that.

She could feel Lilly's small frame behind her, taking her hairbrush out of her hand, and finishing her work with even, gentle strokes through Petunia's knotted blonde hair.

"I can do it myself."

"I know, but I like to."

"What did you come in for?"

"Nothing." Petunia rolled her eyes. It was her little sister, and it was most usually always 'something.'

"I mean it. What do you want?"

"Do you go by Mrs. Croxey's, down the block, lately?"

"Yes, pretty often," Petunia replied, shocked at their normal conversation.

"When you go by there, what do you do?"

"Oh, I help out. I get her groceries and clean a little, I guess. It was lovely, today- you should have seen her! She got so excited over these tulips I got for her on a special-" Petunia lit up remembering the gratitude of the old woman.

"That's nice. But... did you notice, maybe, if Severus seemed to be at home?"

"Ah."

"What?" Lilly's arm froze mid-brush stroke as she sensed conflict in what had been an innocent conversation.

"Nothing," Petunia snapped, turning around in her chair to face her younger sister. "Of course you were only incquiring about him this whole time! Why would you bother with us, mere mortals, dear sister?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Lilly exclaimed, reaching for Petunia's hands. "I'm sorry. Please. Just tell me more about Mrs. Croxey."

"I hate it when you come back."

"...How can you say that?"

Petunia looked down at their fingers entertwined. They were sisters. And yet, they had so very little in common.

"Hmm. I don't know. How can I say that, Lilly? It's just that I would really like to pretend my life is normal. AVERAGE. SIMPLE. Get it?"

"But why? When you know that out there is so much more?" Lilly's piercing eyes would not release her gaze. Lilly looked up at her sister, thinking that things weren't fair for her either, but that she was the bigger person and her sister just couldn't see...

And just when Lilly was about to let go of her sister's hands, Petunia hooked her arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Lilly. I love you. But to be honest, it would just be easier," she breathed into her younger sister's red hair.

When Lilly finally pulled away, she had a genuine smile on her face as she pulled Petunia to the small bed by the window. Petunia folded her legs underneath her as she watched her sister's face, knowing that the visible excitement in her was a sign of something stupid or dangerous that she was about to suggest.

"Petunia, let's go on a road trip."

"What?"

"I want to show you more... of my... world," Lilly said, choosing her words carefully as she reached again for her sister's hands.

"No, I'm not going to that stupid Hogwarts place with you in the middle of summ-"

"Oh, no," Lilly cut her off. "Rather like a road trip to meet my friends!"

"What? Like that boy from the train station?" Petunia teased her, quickly realizing how red Lilly was getting. "Oh, it IS that boy, then?"

"Not just him, though, I mean. It's more boys, too!"

Petunia took back her hands and folded her arms crossly. "Is that supposed to impress me? I can find boys here. Normal ones, thank you very much."

"No, but you will love them, pet. They're really rather nice. Maybe a bit annoying. Besides, you're really pretty, you know? All these brilliant curls are being wasted on your babysitting job for old Mrs. Croxey," she laughed, playing lightly with her sister's hair.

"I don't know, Lilly. I can't just... do what you want."

"But it will be brilliant," Lilly assured her, pulling out a folded, dirty envelope from the pocket of her bath robe.

"What is that?"

"Relax, it's a letter."

"No, I mean is that bird poop?" Petunia began to shriek.

"No, stop. It's alright, pet. That happens."

"With postmen?"

"With owls," Lilly smiled mischeviously.


	2. Roadtrip

I don't own any of this, etc.

Hope you guys are liking the characters so far. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: In a Cottage, By the Woods<strong>

"We are in SO much trouble."

"Petunia, relax," Lilly pleaded, eyeing her sister's white knuckles and their tense grip on the steering wheel. The two had been driving for an hour and their joy ride was beginning to lose... well, the 'joy.' Lilly's green eyes widened as her sister began to rock from side to side. Petunia was losing it.

With a sigh, Lilly procured her wand and cast the Cheering Charm on her sister. Petunia slumoed happily, eyes on the road, and began to hum a happy tune- all anxiety having disappeared.

'There,' Lilly thought to herself, tucking her wand away again. 'It might be illegal, but it is the only thing that can help,' she grinned at her, now happy, sister.

"And I thought that stuff was illegal," Petunia spoke sweetly, making Lilly freeze in her seat.

"What? Roadtrips?"

"Magic. Like that."

The redhead could sense the bite behind that facade of magic-induced cheerfulness. Her sister was mad- she just couldn't express it so soon after the charm she placed on her.

"It was harmless, really. So it doesn't matter. And it may be technically illegal, but I doubt the Ministry will trouble themselves with a couple of sisters and so on," Lilly felt herself rambling.

"It's very strange," Petunia mused softly. "I can only smile. But you can bet not for long..."

Lilly rolled her eyes and leaned away from her sister. This may be a long weekend. Then, a smile started making its way across her face- at least if things got terrible, she could always use the cheering charm. Petunia would never be as happy on her own, anyway!

The road stretched before them and after what could have been a good decade, Lilly began to recognize some of the markers from the directions she had received to the Lupin home.

"Are we going in the woods?" Petunia said, slightly irritated, as the charm was wearing off.

"We're close, ok? And you're going to love it! It will be great," Lilly added confidently. Deep down, she just wished that Petunia wouldn't completely hate it.

A few more miles away, a large-ish and partly unkempt house sat among tall firs. On the back porch, a hammock was swinging, though not because of the breeze or the boy sleeping inside of it. And suddenly, the hammock flipped over entirely, dumping its suprised contents on the hard wooden floor.

"Bloody hell!" The young man propped himself on his elbows. "Keep this up, Padfoot, and you'll see what happens," Remus Lupin threatened, trying to find his culprit but finding it hard to see through his mess of light brown hair.

Muffled laughter came from the open kitchen window as the heads of Sirius and James popped into view. His friends were doubling over at their latest mischief. Remus would have been mad, but all was soon forgiven when Sirius entered the porch with a cold butterbeer for him.

"Thanks," he responded curtly to the peace offering.

"So, James," Sirius called back, "when is that bird going to drop by already?" Remus choked on his beverage at the mischevious look on his friend's face.

"B-bird? Who else did you invite?"

"Nobody- don't worry, Moony. Nobody's invited," James stepped onto the porch to reassure his friend. Remus finally exhaled. "Except Lilly Evans."

"WHAT?"

"But that's nobody," James Potter grinned, nonchalantly shaking out his shaggy ahead, a grin playing on his lips.

"Yeah, when's she getting here?" Sirius threw himself into the hammock Remus had been using. "Things are getting kind of dull around here..."

"That's just because you don't have Peter around here to push around," Remus said evenly, as he tried to straighten himself out. James rolled his eyes at the offhand remark and helped his buddy out.

"Not what he meant, Moony. Besides, with Peter we're just having fun!" James slung an arm around his friend who was still glaring at a grinning Sirius.

The friends fell silent in this way, until they heard gravel crunching under wheels in the front of the house.

"Ooh! Company!" Sirius jauntily hopped out of the hammock. Remus, panicking, began to intervene.

"What did you tell her? Why is she here? What will I tell my parents? They'll be here tomorrow."

"Relax. Don't worry- she's just here to have fun!"

"This won't be fun when my parents get here," Remus corrected.

"I don't know," mused James. "We can have fun. I'll be having fun."

"No- you'll be busy making a fool of yourself, trying to snog Evans," Sirius smiled knowingly.

The three proceeded through the Lupin residence. Remus, already on edge, hurled the door open, and staggered back in surprise.

"They drove one of those? There's no way my parents won't notice that."

"Remus, calm down. Nothing a disillusionment charm can't fix," James strode past his friend to meet his schoolmate.

"And besides, she brought a friend!" Sirius wiggled his eyebrows before hurrying to catch up with James.

The passenger door opened and the redheaded girl popped out.

"You coming?" she winked at Petunia, who was gritting her teeth while inspecting the three lanky boys that were approaching them.

'Ok,' she said to herself, slowly pulling the keys out of the ignition. 'These are just like boys at school. But with magic. It's not like they'll turn me into a frog- I hope!' She gulped back her doubts and stepped out of the car. She didn't like it here at all- in the middle of the woods. She wanted to turn around, to get back in the car, and she would have- if it wasn't for a pair of gray eyes fixing her to her place.

"Hello," she heard her sister say. Petunia broke the boy's gaze and spun around for her sister. In a second, Lilly was by her side. The three boys approached them and Lilly wrapped one arm around Petunia for encouragement.

"Hi, Lilly," one of the boys stepped up. Petunia recognized him as the prat who had been annoying her sister at the trainstation. 'Not so annoying now, it seems,' she took note of their brief exchange.

"Yes, err- hi to you too, James," Lilly, almost flustered, tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear then remembered Petunia. "Oh, yes- this is my sister! And these are my schoolmates: James, Remus, and Sirius." Petunia fixed back to the boy with silver eyes. 'Sirius,' she thought to herself. And she extended her arm to him, while adressing the whole group.

"Petunia Evans. Nice to meet you," she offered. She jumped back, though, when the boy behind him pushed forward to take her hand instead.

"Muggle? Fascinating," Remus shook her hand enthusiastically.

"Remus," Lilly warned, her brow furrowing.

Petunia only glanced at her sister. 'Was that supposed to mean something?' she thought. It was only James who registered the tempest building up inside Lilly. He laughed lightly and hit Remus on the back of the head reproachingly.

"Come on, Moony. They're here for fun, not homework."

"Dork," Sirius muttered under his breath, maybe a little meanly to Petunia, but as soon as it was out, he threw an arm around Remus.

James leading, they began to walk back to the house. It wasn't awkward... it was- well, it was a bit awkward. Petunia didn't usually hang around boys unsupervised- and these boys were complete strangers, not to mention freaks! 'They look so _normal_ though,' she found herself thinking. With Lilly tugging on her arm, she felt herself being led inside.

"So, you drove here?" Remus turned to the girls.

"What were we going to do? Take a nice, long walk to the woods?" Petunia snorted.

"No, no. I suppose not- I m-meant-" Remus stuttered, not realizing the blonde before him had no clue WHAT he had meant.

"We couldn't. I don't have Floo powder and I couldn't very well apparate. The Ministry would notice _that_," she said, relaxing into an arm chair in the living room.

Petunia squinted at her sister and the foreign language she was hearing.

"What-wha?" It was Petunia's turn to stutter, and to save her the effort of figuring it all out, Sirius appeared at her side and pulled her down lightly on the big couch behind them. James tried to stroll nonchalantly toward the arm chair where the Gryffindor redhead was perched prettily. Of course, crossing a silent room could go unnoticed for only so long.

"Smooth, Prongs," Sirius whistled as his friend 'casually' sat down on the arm of the chair.

"What?" James remained unbothered by the taunt.

"So, what's this grand ol' time that I just had to drop in on?" Lilly leaned forward, trying not to brush against James.

"Nothing planned, but we'll make sure you didn't come all this way for nothing," Sirius grinned evilly, nodding toward Remus.

"Oh, right," Remus strode toward a cabinet. "My dad was kind enough to forget to hide all the Firewhiskey," he grinned, protruding an amber bottle.

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><p>Well, sorry to cut it short here. I'm almost done with the next part though :)<p>

What do you think they should do, or what should come out of Petunia's new acquaintance with Lilly's friends?


	3. Muggle Games

**Chapter Three: Those No-Good Muggle Drinking Games**

"What's that like, Lilly?" Petunia asked nervously, eyeing the bottle of dark liquid that Remus was waving at them.

Lilly stiffened a bit, her mind whirring for the right answer. "Well, it's a bit like… I mean, it's obviously liquor. It must be most like what you might call..."

"Oh, hang it all," Sirius silenced her. "It's not like you would know, Evans! You've been too busy sticking to the rules to find out."

James just shot his friend a very mean glare as the girl behind him reddened so deeply that her skin practically matched her hair. In all the tension, it was only Petunia who began to crack up.

"So you were a little bookworm even there," she spoke between fits of giggles.

"Well, now," Sirius shifted his attention to the pretty blonde on the couch, turning away from the arm chair and James's condemning stare. "You see, firewhiskey isn't too bad. I haven't touched any of the muggle stuff, of course, but I would assume all humans can recover from it- magic or not."

"Recover? Wh-what?" Petunia faltered. "You mean it burns you?"

"Maybe not to that degree. But it's still quite… potent. The trick is to recover the next day from what it makes you do," he said lowly, fixing her with a stare that made Petunia blush.

It was Remus who saved her from the subtext in the boy's eyes, by clearing his throat and drawing their attention back to what mattered: the alcohol. He sat down, cross-legged, by the round, polished coffee table in front of them, looking from the bottle to the group- almost as if he was waiting for something to happen. Truthfully, this silly pause thrilled him- he liked being accorded more attention and he reveled in the question of what happened next- what would _he_ choose to do next?

"Now, then… I suppose we could get started in some way or another…"

"Quite the party hostess, aren't you, Moony," Sirius drawled as he pushed back his hair. Remus ignored it- still focused on a more sophisticated plan of action.

"We could… just… drink it?"

Petunia surprised herself when she spoke up: "I know a pretty good drinking game," she offered.

The group turned to look at her- Lilly being the only one who didn't look curious or amused. Her eyes were wide and her nostrils were flaring, and it sort of frightened Petunia. She knew that face- she didn't want to start a fight and leave now. So, as nonchalantly as possible, she tried to defuse the ticking bomb by telling her sister to relax.

"Yeah, relax, Evans," Sirius snapped jokingly, stretching back to put one arm on the couch behind Petunia, as she was quickly shuffling through a deck of cards.

"It's called 'High or Low,' and it's really easy- we all go in a circle and put a card down," she explained as she divided the deck between the five of them. "And you guess whether your card will be higher or lower than the previous one."

"And if it's the same- er- value?" Remus said carefully, a hand in his hair, as he evaluated the potential of her muggle game.

"Oh, then, everyone drinks!"

"Sounds good to me," James leaped from Lilly's side and took a place on the floor next to Remus.

As they proceeded, a pair of panicked green eyes was still dashing between the cards being handed out and the bottle on the edge of the table. It was true, Lilly hadn't been the kind of girl that snuck off from Gryffindor tower for a drink. Was it alright to drink now? James remembered her and looked back expectantly. She sighed and slid from the arm chair, joining him and the rest of the gang around the coffee table.

The game began- maybe a little slowly. Remus was asking Petunia about the automobile's ignition when Sirius, growing bored with the subject, plunged his hand into his pocket to extract his wand. Holding it beneath the table, he began to have a little fun.

"Higher," Petunia declared assuredly before flipping over a card from her pile. As Sirius whispered under his breath, her hand tossed the card to the middle of the table, revealing two small red hearts. It seemed impossible. All of the two's had already been played. And yet, Petunia didn't question it.

"It was lower… well, I guess I lose," Petunia shrugged and reached for the bottle.

'These muggle games are too easy,' thought Sirius to himself, an evil grin spreading across his face.

While he challenged Petunia to a drinking contest that she didn't even know she was playing, the rest of the gang began feeling pretty wobbly, themselves. Lilly was leaning into James comfortably, a hand in his dark hair, unaware of the tricks that Sirius was playing on his sister, who had guessed 'incorrectly' for the seventh time in a row.

"You know, for being the only one who knew this game, you're awfully bad at it," teased Sirius.

"I know!" exclaimed Lilly, making all parties jump. "Why don't we go into the lake!"

The group, a bit surprised by the request, considered it half-heartedly. It was only James who seemed to be fixed on the idea. And so, the five of them proceeded a ways down from the Lupin cabin/house to the cold and, as it turned out, very shallow lake. Remus, fully clothed, dove in with plenty of bravado from the rounds of "High or Low" that he had lost. And, as is expected, in shallow water, he smacked his head hard- giving everyone a cause for alarm as his friends rushed and dragged him out of the water. It was Lilly who, finally managing to collect her wits about her, began to levitate him out of the water and into the house.

"So much for skinny dipping," grumbled James.

"Moony, you ok?" asked Sirius, trying to mask his own disappointment.

"Yeah-huh- hua," came the reply.

"Oh, he'll be fine," James smiled, putting an arm around a scared looking Lilly.

They were almost inside and Sirius, turning to look at Petunia in the dark of the night, reached for her hand and held her back from the living room onto the porch. Petunia glanced, a little worried, after her sister who was- strangely enough- focusing on making a boy float all the way inside. And even more perplexing than the magic, Petunia gulped, seemed to be this boy with dark long hair and a handsome face, keeping her on the porch, and now nodding toward a hammock that she had overlooked in the moonlight.

She followed him and sat down carefully, one leg over the edge, facing him, as he managed to balance himself with both feet over the edge, staring straight out- back to the lake they had come from.

"So… your friend will be ok?"

"Trust me, he withstands a lot more pain than this," he grimaced.

"Oh. The… magical kind? Of pain, I mean?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"What's it like?" she leaned toward him, her chin almost touching his shoulder.

"Never asked him. Hard as hell, I assume."

"Not him- you. All of you," she paused looking around herself. "I mean, what's it like to feel the magic-anything? Pain or not?"

"Doesn't your sister tell you?" he turned his head toward her, looking at her straight on.

"Well, I guess we're not close when she comes home, exactly," Petunia answered truthfully.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Besides," Sirius said, straightening his back. "You're nothing short of spectacular, yourself, Petunia Evans." And with a coy smile, he bent to the left, toward her, kissing her roughly. He put a hand behind her head and leaned toward her- the hammock swung them a bit off balance, giving him opportunity to deepen the kiss. And next, her leg wasn't even on the ground anymore. Petunia gasped as she realized she was losing control of the hammock and of herself, and Sirius smoothly managed to take this opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth.

And then, she surprised herself by kissing him back excitedly, wrapping her arms around his shoulder blades, not caring which way the hammock was swinging, as she pressed herself against him. Maybe it had been the flattery, maybe it had been the moonlight, or maybe it had been the striking grey eyes that had been challenging her all day that managed to get Petunia so caught up in the moment. And here she was, being snogged senseless by a stranger. A friend of her sister's, no less.

It was that realization that made her open her eyes and end the kiss- pushing back from the smug boy that she had wrapped her arms around. He smirked at her, almost in a 'shall we?' sort of way, as she realized what he was. He wasn't normal. This wasn't like kissing a boy from her school. He wasn't even human, really. Petunia's head began to swim with insecurities and doubts as she pushed out of the hammock quickly. She marched back into the house, leaving all of the moonlight and sweet talk behind.

And on the porch, a bewildered Sirius Black had stopped swinging and was left scratching his head at what had just happened.

"Well, shit!"

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><p>Hope you guys like this story and will keep following it! HAven't had time to post but be sure- some new developments are on the way ;)<p> 


	4. Just Teenagers

in case anyone forgot, i still don't own the series. enjoy ;]

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Good, Clean Teenage Fun<strong>

James was balancing Remus on the couch when he felt a pair of green eyes boring into the back of his head.

"Why did you invite me here?"

"We were getting bored," James shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh, is that it?" she raised a red eyebrow at the boy.

"You're calling me a liar, Evans?" He mocked offense as he took a step toward her.

"Sorry, I forgot the Marauders were straight-forward, honest, and never up to any tricks," she rolled her eyes, refusing to back away from the smirking James.

"Do I sense sarcasm?" James asked thoughtfully, playfully bringing a hand to his chin, as he took another step closer.

"Don't know, really- I mean, you've proved plenty of times to be absolutely senseless- so I don't know if you _did_ sense anything," she said challengingly. She looked up at him to see his hazel eyes light up daringly, as he took one step closer.

"Well then, Evans, see if you can sense this," he spoke lowly, dipping his head to kiss her. Lilly gasped quietly at the sudden advances, when something began to stir from the couch behind James.

"My head…," Remus managed to groan into a couch pillow. His consciousness quickly sent a blushing Lilly off to the other side of the room. James muttered a swear, dropping his shoulders at the lost opportunity, and turned to look at his injured friend.

"What… what did I do?" drawled Remus slowly, gently touching his head where he had hit the shallow end hard.

"You just happened to use your impeccably good timing again, that's all," James bit out, looking over his shoulder at Lilly who was now engrossed in the knickknacks that lined the mantelpiece over the fire place.

"What? What are you talking about? I've got a HUGE bump on my head, man," Remus complained.

At that point, the back door swung closed with a crack and the three glanced up to see Petunia walk in almost mechanically, visibly trying to compose herself. Once she gave up on that, the tall blonde just shot them a mean glare as she sat down in the arm chair.

Things began to click for James, and he grimaced, looking down embarrassedly.

"Alright, what did Padfoot do?" He looked up, and saw Lily's eyes widen.

Instead of reacting though, Petunia just asked curtly, "Where will we be sleeping?"

Remus oblidged her with directions to a guest bedroom, and she marched off. Lilly just stared between her sister's retreating form and James. He raised an eyebrow at the question in her eyes, but when she opened her mouth, she found she had nothing to say to him.

Then, Padfoot managed to slink in, with his tail between his legs, shaking his long, dark hair at his best friends, to ward off any questions. That, in itself, had been enough of an answer for Lilly. She added a polite "good night," and stalked off after her sister.

Rounding the corner, she was fuming. Of course Sirius Black, serial-dater of Hogwarts, shouldn't have been trusted alone with her sister. She opened the door to their bedroom, aiming to do some damage control, to find Petunia in a corner of the room, eyes bulging as she tried to take the whole room in.

"What's the matter, pet?" Lilly asked softly.

"These are… these are… not normal beds, are they?" she mumbled softly, wary of the mattress she was staring at.

Grinning, Lilly shrugged and jumped on the bed.

"I don't know, Petunia- it seems pretty normal to me," she smiled, jumping a few more times.

"Oh. Alright," Petunia relaxed and approached the bed. But she still didn't feel like she could trust this freak-house.

Downstairs, in the very same 'freak-house,' the boys had slumped onto the couch where the girls left them, finishing off one more bottle of firewhiskey.

"Damnit, Padfoot," James bit out angrily. He looked toward his friends- Sirius was stretched out, unconcerned, with his eyes closed, while Remus was gripping his glass in both hands, lost in the fire they had lit.

Still bothered, James removed a shoe and threw it at the reflective Sirius.

"I'm talking to you, you git!"

"What's your problem, Prongs?" Sirius blinked once, hard, when the shoe struck his shoulder. He looked at his friend, silver eyes blazing in challenge. That was all it took to calm James down. And that was the average length of their fights.

Sighing, James just sunk into the chair deeper. "I just wish you hadn't been putting the moves on her muggle sister, man."

"Can I help it if the muggle sister's hot?" He smirked devilishly.

"Padfoot, you realize she's like… older than us? Older than her, so ergo, older than us?" Remus reasoned as he turned away from the fire.

"Shit, Moony, I don't care! And like I said, she's hot. And it's not like she's Dumbledore's age," scoffed Sirius.

"Moony, how hard did you hit your head, man?" James leaned toward them concerned.

"I don't know… don't remember much. But it still hurts," he said, gingerly touching the spot with a finger.

And with that, the three Marauders went off to their own rooms.

The following morning, Lilly was awaken by a knock on their bedroom. She cracked it open to see James, smiling down at her warmly.

"Morning," he greeted her, holding out her bag, that she and Petunia had packed for the trip and forgotten in the backseat.

"Thanks, Potter," she said, sliding her arm out, still hiding herself behind the door.

"What, did you sleep naked? What are you doing?" James looked at her curiously.

"No, and mind your business," she bit out as she closed the door on his face.

"Well, Moony made some breakfast downstairs," James shouted through the closed door.

Lily was grateful that he hadn't been too discouraged to share that information with them, but she still felt flustered that he had come knocking at their door so early. She had just been wearing a long t-shirt and underwear.

She changed quickly then shook Petunia awake gently. Her sister groaned at her and snuggled deeper under the covers- not yet fully aware of where they were. Shrugging, Lilly left her the bag and made for the kitchen/living room, where she found the boys- Sirius leaning with his feet on the table, looking through the Daily Prophet.

"So Prongs tells me you sleep in the nude," he muttered, casting her a sly, sideways glance.

Blushing, Lily quickly rolled her eyes at them. "In his dreams."

"Yeah. Probably," Sirius nodded firmly, chuckling to himself. Lilly's blush deepened as James leaned over to punch Sirius on the shoulder.

"So what do you want to do today?" Remus, ever the poster boy for responsibility and maturity, politely changed the topic.

"Uhm, I don't know," Lilly shrugged, sitting down. "What is there to do here?"

"Oh, just lots of good, clean fun," Sirius assured her, turning a page in the Prophet.

"Like last night you mean?" Lilly challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, well that had been good, clean _teenage_ fun!" Sirius smirked at her over his newspaper.

"We could walk through the woods," Remus offered. Lilly nodded her head approvingly at the plan. It looked like a beautiful day outside, she noted through the kitchen windows.

"No, Moony," Sirius complained childishly. "That's just so boring!"

"I'll go with you," James offered, sounding a little too nonchalant.

"And then, there's the town that's a means away from here," Remus kept going.

"Or we can all try to go swimming again," Sirius offered, smirking at Remus, whose hand immediately went to the small bump on his head.

"If we go on that walk," Lilly turned toward James, "would it be fine for Petunia to just stay here then?"

"Oh, yeah. She'll have company," Sirius cut over James, answering her question with bravado.

"That's what I was worried about," Lilly said softly, leaning for the food in the middle of the table. Remus was the only one who had heard her, but his smirk went away quickly, as he turned away from his food suddenly. His head jerked toward the fireplace in alarm.

"Guys, my parents may come through the Floo network at any minute!"

"Parents?" Lilly looked at him, confused.

And despite the insistence of the other two boys, Lilly and Petunia were dressed and packed within minutes, and heading off to their car.

"Christ, Moony!" James let out, frustrated.

"It's not my fault! I didn't even know you invited them, so…" he trailed off defensively.

James's head shot up with an idea and he ran toward the mantel piece in the living room, to a pretty black box that used to hold a small set of tin soldiers. He took one of the two remaining and jogged back outside, toward the car that was already in gear.

Out of breath, he leaned onto the passenger door as Lilly rolled down the window.

"So… shall we postpone the trip through the woods for another time?" he said playfully.

"I don't know, James… It's been fun, but you guys are pretty far, and Remus was clearly ups-"

"Oh, forget Moony. He loves you guys! Besides, I can make the trip a lot easier," he said, tossing a toy soldier into her lap.

"Thanks a lot," Petunia rolled her eyes, "but a four hour drive won't be made better by a toy."

"A Portkey?" Lilly assumed, ignoring her sister.

"Only the best, for you two," James winked, pushing away from the window, before a thought occurred to him. "Oh, and make sure to come back too, Petunia!" He smiled at her warmly.

"Thanks, but I'll drive…. freak," she grumbled under her breath as she turned the car around.

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><p><strong>hey guys! please tell me what you think! <strong>


	5. Portkey

**sorry not to have updated in a while. but hope you guys like what i have so far.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: Once Upon a Portkey<strong>

The drive back home was mostly silent. Petunia and Lilly collaborated briefly on the story they would tell their parents- that they had been at Petunia's friend, Mary Beth. The whole time they were straightening out the details, Petunia made sure to turn to Lilly to emphasize that they were covering up because her whole way of life was, at least to her, fundamentally wrong.

Their mother embraced them at once while Mr. Evans, a father who had never had to reprimand his daughters for rebelling before, just sat in his chair, too apprehensive to pass any judgments. But looking at his daughters, smiling together, all his plans of punishment fell apart.

The girls apologized for having hijacked the car to take off without much reason, explaining that Mary Beth had been left alone with her grandparents and she had asked the Evans sisters to sleepover and help babysit her unruly twin siblings. By the end of the tale, Petunia and Lilly sounded so saintly that Mr. Evans felt bad for doubting them in the first place.

"Yes, well, you girls are certainly showing maturity," he acknowledged gruffly. "I suppose you are entitled to a lot more.. free reign. But no more joy rides!" He added on a last note.

"It won't even be necessary," Petunia said lowly, casting Lilly a bored sidelong glance- to prove her disinterest in future escapades. Petunia's half-smile (feigned only on her parents' behalf) saddened Lilly. She had been hoping to bridge her home life and her Hogwarts life. She had hoped that if Petunia met some of her friends…. Well, it wasn't like James Potter and his band were her best buds or anything.

As they both went off to their own rooms, Lilly cursed herself for having introduced Petunia to the Marauders. Those boys were definitely not 'normal,' and were hardly the transition that Petunia would have needed to wade further into Lilly's world. 'Why couldn't I have just asked some friends from school over? Like some nice girls that Petunia could have related to?' she thought sorrowfully. Instead, she had been selfish and given in to the whim and curiosity of meeting with Potter, and dragging her sister along for the adventure.

A light knock on her window made her jump out of her reverie to notice the same tawny owl that had delivered the invitation to the "weekend of debauchery at Lupin's." 'Debauchery indeed,' Lilly scoffed, as she opened her window to the familiar owl. 'Too bad any of the actual debauchery that took place occurred purely by accident.' Remus hitting his head, Petunia being left alone with Black- all those things happened by chance. And it was this bad luck that had probably reinforced Petunia's prejudices against magic. Sighing deeply, she took a small piece of parchment from the owl.

"I'll fix everything. Come back soon, though," read the message, scrawled in Potter's handwriting. She rolled her eyes, when she noticed another owl, practically red, flying toward the house, but swooping past her window… to Petunia's! Lilly got the most horrible feeling in her stomach, steeling herself for shrieks. She expected Petunia would be throwing chairs at the window to hit the 'wild' creature. But when she didn't dear anything, leaning out of her window to get a closer look, she saw her sister examining the owl and removing a scroll calmly.

Lilly couldn't believe it: Petunia had just reached out to an owl and taken her message. She didn't recoil from the mode of communication or freak out as she was wont to do… 'Perhaps,' Lilly thought, 'it's me who hasn't been reaching out enough. Maybe she is ready to fit into my world, after all.' Smiling at the thought of her sister owling her during her school year, she left her room to spy on Petunia and find out what that letter was about.

Cracking the door to her sister's room, Lilly found her older sibling bouncing happily on her bed while looking over the parchment she was gripping with both hands. The younger sister couldn't stifle a giggle at the sight, attracting Petunia's attention away from the letter.

"What do you want?" Petunia shot out. Lilly flinched, but realized her sister hadn't said it with the usual meanness in her voice, but with an edge of apprehensiveness instead.

"Just wanted to know what the owl was about," Lilly said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She wasn't sure if she was crossing some boundaries- after all, she had never interested herself in Petunia's life before, really.

"Just a letter from your friend, Sirius," Petunia admitted eagerly, her smile widening. "And he asked me to come visit soon!"

"But I thought you wouldn't _dream_ of taking the car again," Lilly teased.

"Oh, well… you have that pork-key thing, right?"

"Portkey, yes," Lilly laughed lightly at her sister before joining her on her bed. The two laughed and giggled and were in such a good mood for dinner that Mr. Evans almost gave them permission to run away more often.

Lilly never really learned what Sirius Black had written to her sister. Petunia wouldn't share- though she made sure to impart hundreds of other mushy things to her sister, like about his striking eyes, and his wit, and his build, and how flattering he was, etc. Lilly smiled inwardly at her sister's euphoria. She seemed to be embracing the magical side to Lilly. 'If only it wasn't with Black, though… How many girlfriends had he gone through last term?' she sighed to herself between her sister's rants.

But Lilly decided to let go of her apprehension toward Sirius. At least for now. Just so Petunia could enjoy herself. 'I mean, what's the harm of a summer fling?' she tried to reason. Lilly really wanted Petunia to keep coming and to get an interest in magic and in Lilly's life. If Black was seducing her, under a boy's spell she would come much more willingly. But was this putting her sister in danger? And was this just a selfish way for Lilly to get what she wanted? The redhead bit her lip, staring down into her lap.

"And his smile is just so breath-taking… Wait, Lil, what's wrong?" Petunia placed a hand on her arm.

"No- nothing," she brushed her off. 'For now,' Lilly thought, 'I'll just let things unfold. I'll be there for Petunia if he tries anything funny, though.'

Turning her green eyes back to a concerned Petunia, she offered to help her owl Sirius back.

"Oh, no, thanks," quipped Petunia, her smile widening. "I'm just going to make him wait a while."

As it turned out, 'a while' meant sending Black an owl before breakfast the next morning. And after that, the girls began to get more acquainted as Petunia let her barriers down. Lilly couldn't help but think someone must have used 'Obliviate' on Petunia to wipe clean the last few years of their lives together. It was amazing how well they could get along.

Arm-in-arm, they stalked off to the corner grocery store. They were in an aisle looking for snacks, when a dark figure approached them. Lilly didn't even notice the boy her age. It was Petunia who turned to give him an icy glare, hoping to stop him in his tracks. Unperturbed by her, the boy cleared his throat, pulling back a few strands of long black hair.

"Hello, Lilly," Severus said once the redhead had turned toward him, a look of shock on her face. He steeled himself for what she might have to say, but the girl just folded her arms and turned back to evaluate the different brands on the shelves.

"Wh-what have you been up to?" Snape added, pursuing them as they turned to go down the aisle. His black robes swirled behind him as other customers turned their heads at the scene.

"What do you want?" Petunia snapped, putting an arm around her sister protectively.

"Nothing from you, I assure you," he said coldly.

Lilly looked between them once and turned on her heels to leave the store. Walking quickly down the street she could only hear her heart beating faster and faster- it was only when she saw two more shadows on the pavement that she noticed they were following her.

"Severus," she asked, but instead of sounding calm and controlled here voice came out pleading.

"I won't go. I want to talk to you," he shook his head.

"Please."

"I've said I'm sorry. I just want to talk, Lilly."

"As if she needs you in her life," scoffed Petunia.

"Kindly stay out of this," Severus bit out curtly.

"And I know you're poor, but can you really not afford to wash your hair or wear more normal clothes?" Petunia continued meanly.

"I don't need to hide from what I really am," he said lowly, looking back at Lilly meaningfully.

"And are you one of them, then?" Lilly said, almost in a whisper.

"Oh, I don't care! You still look like the biggest freak in town!" Petunia continued to insult him. "I think it's you that ruined my notion of wizards," she spoke cruelly. "Good thing I've finally met some gentlemen to prove me wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Severus snapped back to Petunia, his dark eyes flashing threateningly.

Not intimidated, Petunia proceeded to name-drop her newest friends, telling Snape they had a fabulous time together. She didn't understand the layers of hurt to his expression, but she was glad for his reaction all the same.

"With Potter and those ingrates?"

Lilly nodded, opening her mouth to speak, but no response came.

Severus, upset, focused on the redhead's mouth. 'What happened?' he thought. He wanted to ask her. He wanted explanations. And he wanted Lilly to take it all back- to tell him Petunia was lying and making things up.

"I thought he was just a _toe-rag_," he said carefully, trying to keep the pain from his eyes.

"Goodbye, Severus," she turned away one more time, beckoning her older sister to follow.

"Just be careful, Lilly. It's not even safe to be around _some_ of them in a few weeks," she heard Snape say behind them. When she turned back to look at him, he was gone.

Petunia had been kind and didn't probe into what Lilly was feeling and why she was so upset by that unsavory character.

"You know, Sirius wrote me another letter," she told her quietly. "If you want, we could even go there this afternoon," she smiled at her little sister.

"That sounds good," Lilly said cheering up.

After lunch, Lilly felt great- she had been telling Petunia about all her classes. Petunia's eyes seemed cloudy- almost as if she was lost in thought, listening longingly to her sister's stories. But she smiled brightly after each explanation, asking Lilly even more questions.

Finally, they decided to use the portkey. Sitting on Lilly's bed, holding hands tightly, they looked down at the tin soldier on the bedspread.

"You sure this will work?"

"Oh, yeah," Lilly said, folding her legs under her anxiously. "Just don't let go," she reminded Petunia, grabbing the portkey firmly. They felt themselves pulled and for a second they couldn't feel anything at all except for each other's hands. And then, they felt water. Lots of water. Rushing into their laps and coming up to their necks quicky.

The girls shrieked trying to get a better grip on their surroundings.

"What the hell? Are we in a lake?" Lilly gasped out, looking at the green water on all sides.

"More like in a puddle," a slick voice corrected her.

The girls spun their heads to see the three Marauders lounging in chairs, trying to hold back laughter.

Lilly narrowed her eyes at them, finding James. "What the HELL, POTTER?"

"Sorry, Lilly," James shrugged, laughing. "It wasn't until after you left that Moony mentioned your portkey was a bit… off." At this, all three boys nearly fell out of their chairs, rolling with laughter.

Irritated, Lilly began to squirm away from a stunned Petunia, trying to gain her balance in the muddy bottom and stand up. "You could have mentioned that earlier!" She shouted back to the shore.

"It seemed inconsequential," Sirius barked out, continuing to laugh.

"You know what? YOU'RE ALL PRATS!" she yelled, furiously, throwing the toy soldier at James' head.

Using his Quidditch instincts, the boy snagged it away from his face easily, causing him to disappear and show up in the middle of the 'lake,' nearly falling onto Petunia.

The shore went silent as Prongs was submerged underwater until he pushed himself up on his elbows to a sitting position.

And at that point, it was Lilly and Petunia's turn to start laughing uncontrollably. A soaked James Potter glared at the girls for two seconds before starting to laugh too.


End file.
